USDP spends $75,000 on election complaints against almost 200 NLD MPs

USDP spokesperson says democratic culture is being ‘emasculated’ after filing complaints about 'irregularities' during November 8 poll

Nyan Hlaing Lin

Published on Dec 29, 2020

Min Min

Published on Dec 29, 2020

Supporters of the USDP march in Naypyidaw ahead of polling day last month (Nyan Hlaing Lin/Myanmar Now)

The Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) has spent 100m kyat ($75,200) on submitting complaints to election officials about supposed “irregularities” in almost 200 constituencies where the National League for Democracy (NLD) won seats last month.

Party spokesperson Yin Min Myint Swe said that although the USDP had now accepted defeat, there were nonetheless serious “voter list errors” across the country.

"It was worse than usual,” she told journalists after submitting a batch of complaints in Naypyitaw on Monday. “The injustice was worse than ever before. That is why the next generation will not accept the emasculation of democratic culture.”

But she added: “We accept the loss.”

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“We’re mostly objecting against the NLD. There is rarely any other party,” she said.

The party has submitted complaints for every constituency in Naypyitaw except Zeyar Thiri township, where USDP chair Than Htay won a seat.

It has also filed objections in Magwe region, Kayin state, Ayeyarwady region, northern Shan state, Mandalay region and Tanintharyi region, as well as against the Bago chief minister Win Thein, who was re-elected last month.

Each complaint cost the party 500,000 kyat, a fee that must be paid under election laws to cover court costs and which cannot be reclaimed even if the party wins the dispute.

Election observers reported no major irregularities during the November 8 poll. The USDP originally refused to accept the result, which saw the NLD win an even bigger landslide than in 2015, and demanded it be held again.

The Union Election Commission (UEC) dismissed that demand as “deluded” - and the party later changed its messaging, with spokesperson Nandar Hla Myint arguing late last month the party was not challenging the overall result, just those in some constituencies.

In 2015 the USDP readily conceded defeat, but still filed complaints against 19 winning NLD candidates, all of which it lost. The NLD filed seven complaints and won two.

This year the NLD has filed a complaint against Than Htay after he made racist comments on the campaign trail.

Yin Min Myint Swe said she was confident the party would be able to respond to the complaint and that Than Htay’s remark that he has no “Chinese or Muslims” in his bloodline did not break any rules.

"In my opinion, it is not illegal to do this. But I have heard that a complaint has been filed so it will have to be clarified in court," she said.

Lawyers involved in submitting the USDP’s complaints said the UEC had set a deadline of December 28 for filing any further objections to the election results.

Out of 1,117 constituencies, the NLD won 920 seats and the USDP won 71 last month.

A UEC official told Myanmar Now on condition of anonymity last week that the commission would release “official information” about the complaints next month.

Nyan Hlaing Lin

Nyan Hlaing Lin is Senior Reporter with Myanmar Now

Min Min

Min Min is Naypyidaw-based reporter with Myanmar Now.

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Six village administrators in Kalay resign as regime officials are targeted in deadly attacks

A Kyaungtaik local describes the joint resignation of all of the administrators of the pro-military village tract as ‘strange’

Myanmar Now

Published on Jun 6, 2021

The regime’s troops attack the Tahan protest stronghold in Kalay on April 7, reportedly using grenades and machine guns (Supplied)

Six village administrators from Sagaing Region’s Kalay Township resigned in a joint letter on Thursday for what they said were “family matters.”

The six administrators were from Kyaungtaik village tract, a stronghold of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and an area that has seen few anti-coup activities since the army’s February 1 attempted takeover of government.

The administrators had been in their positions since being appointed in 2016. They were from the villages of Kyaungtaik, Thahpan Aing, Ahrwar, Nyaungtaw, Thinbawpin, Setaw-U, and sent a resignation letter to the Kalay Township Administrative Council—the local chapter of the coup regime—on Thursday.

“As far as I know, administrators from the entire village tract resigned,” a resident told Myanmar Now. “There are many USDP or army supporters in that village tract, so their resignations at this time are a little bit strange. It is impossible that they were threatened.”

Several administrators nationwide who were appointed by the regime or who have not resigned from their posts since the military coup have recently been shot dead or attacked. They have been accused of acting as collaborators with or informants for the junta and tipping off regime officials with information about pro-democracy activities and the whereabouts of the activists.

“Many people here support the army. Young people who are anti-military have moved elsewhere because living here is dangerous for them. Anti-coup protests could not be properly organised here, either,” another resident of Kyaungtaik village tract said.

Neither the six administrators nor the Kalay Township Administrative Council could be reached for comments.

The administrator of Mauklin village tract, about 1.6 km north of Kyaungtaik, also resigned on June 1, according to area residents. A ward administrator in Nan Mar town in Kachin State’s Mohnyin Township also resigned on Friday after another former administrator from the area was recently killed.

“Many people here support the army. Young people who are anti-military have moved elsewhere because living here is dangerous for them. Anti-coup protests could not be properly organised here, either.”

Residents of Kalay were among the first to take up arms and fight back the military junta’s armed forces after more than 100 people were killed in the nationwide crackdowns by the regime on March 27.

The Tahan protest stronghold in Kalay became well-known for resisting the Myanmar military and police through the use of traditional hunting rifles known as Tumi guns. At least 10 civilians were killed in late March and April when the military crushed the stronghold in lethal attacks that relied on heavy weapons.

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Arrested judge in Mandalay released and transferred to Bago

A member of a legal network described the transfer as a ‘punitive action’ after the township judge accused the military council of interfering in judicial matter

Myanmar Now

Published on Jun 6, 2021

A township judge in Mandalay’s Chanmyathazi who was arrested in late March for speaking out against Myanmar’s coup regime has been released and transferred by the junta’s judicial authorities to a new posting in Bago Region, according to members of the legal community.

Judge Ko Ko has reportedly been assigned to work in a court in Nyaunglebin Township.

“He was released after they found no obvious evidence of his wrongdoing. Then he was transferred to another town after an internal investigation was conducted in the regional court,” a lawyer from the Mandalay-based Lawyers Network told Myanmar Now.

Ko Ko was arrested on March 25 after he accused the military council—in a Facebook post—of interfering in the judicial sector. The Chanmyathazi Township police chief filed a lawsuit against him, charging him with creating division among government employees and incitement under Section 505a of the Penal Code.

After being detained at the No. 11 police station in Mandalay, Ko Ko was released in early April before his 14-day remand had been completed. He was transferred to Nyaunglebin in May, according to the Lawyers Network.

“A township judge is a gazetted officer who must not be easily arrested without the permission of his department. So an internal inspection was conducted and he was transferred to another township, seemingly as a punitive action,” a lawyer in Mandalay told Myanmar Now.

In 2018, Ko Ko was appointed as a deputy judge at the Chanmyathazi Township court, and he was promoted to the position of township judge one year later. He is also a son-in-law of former Mandalay Region High Court Chief Justice Soe Thein, who retired in 2020 under the administration led by the National League for Democracy.

Despite the criticism of the coup council which led to his arrest, Ko Ko was not widely perceived as resisting the military regime; in the days leading up to his arrest, he was criticised by the general public for writing Facebook posts condemning those involved in the Civil Disobedience Movement.

Myanmar Now has been unable to contact him regarding his release and transfer, and the police force have not released a public comment on the issue.

At the time of reporting, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners has said that more than 4,000 people have been arrested in the country since the February 1 military coup.

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Junta troops kill three civilians in shootout over arrest of local villager

Around 80 villagers in Ayeyarwady Region clashed with soldiers as they tried to prevent the arrest of a man accused of transporting weapons

Myanmar Now

Published on Jun 5, 2021

A Google satellite image shows the location of Kyonpyaw Township in Ayeyarwady Region.

Three civilians were shot dead in Ayeyarwady Region’s Kyonpyaw Township on Saturday when locals tried to confront troops as they arrested a resident of their village.

U Kyay, an elderly man from Hlay Swel, a village about 5km northeast of Kyonpyaw, was taken into custody early Saturday morning. The regime’s authorities accused U Kyay, who sells bananas to Yangon, of transporting weapons.

After learning of his arrest, about 80 Hlay Swel villagers, some of whom were armed with air guns, gathered outside the village to ambush the soldiers as they left.

However, soldiers acting as sentries spotted the crowd and opened fire, resulting in a shootout between the two sides that lasted about an hour.

“Some of the regime troops stayed outside the village to keep watch and our group had a head-on clash with them. They shot at us first,” said one villager who spoke to Myanmar Now on condition of anonymity.

“Even though it was a shootout, our guns only had a range of about 200 feet. Most people around here had never heard gunfire before, so they were startled by the sound as the soldiers fired continuously,” he added.

Three men were shot dead before the crowd dispersed as three military vehicles arrived with reinforcements.

“We had three groups—frontline, middle line and last line. The first person who was shot was from the frontline. He was only 20-something years old,” said the Hlay Swel villager.

“The next one was that young man’s father. When his son was shot, he raised his head as he shouted, ‘Don’t leave my son!’ He was shot in the shoulder and then in the head,” he continued.

The third victim was identified as a 19-year-old man from the village.

At the time of reporting, regime soldiers had taken control of Hlay Swel and residents of eight neighbouring villages had fled their homes, according to Kyonpyaw locals.

Saturday’s clash was the first in Kyonpyaw Township, where some locals have started arming themselves with handmade guns to resist the military’s attacks.

Villagers in many rural parts of Myanmar started using hunting rifles and other light weapons in late March to fight back against junta troops using lethal force against peaceful protesters.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), at least 845 civilians have been killed by coup regime since it seized power on February 1.